New to the world of children’s literature and unsure what to do next?
Suzanne Elson, whose picture book Calm Down Counting was launched on April 6, 2025, has been working tirelessly to market her amazing social-emotional learning story about a girl with anxiety. Here are her top tips for promoting books, not in any particular order.
- Connect with writers on whatever social media platform you use, and promote your book there regularly via posts and retweets, etc. You can also schedule posts ahead of time with tools like Adobe Express if you can’t be online every day.
- Reach out to critique partners and writers in your genre. Connecting with others who write the same sort of stuff increases the chance they will repost and promote your work, as well as share any connections they have to help you a little more. Sometimes they even preorder your book!
- Try your best to get into local libraries. Send emails, call, go in person – get in touch with the right employees, the ones who make the purchasing decisions.
- Become a part of a local writing group if you can. They’re always really good at promoting your work! There’s also the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) or the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP).
- Connect with places that would be interested in your work. For example, elementary schools are great for children’s books, but you can get more specific, too. A book about farm animals could sell at a school, a library, a farm, an agricultural museum, maybe a zoo… Try to find places and events where people would be interested in WHAT you write about.
- Another great thing to do is find beta readers. Sometimes they are free, sometimes you have to pay, but then they will put reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, and that’s just another place to get the word out there. Of course, they also give you feedback on your book!
- Have a website about you and your journey that anyone interested in you can take a look at. Make sure it’s easy to navigate, has no spelling mistakes or broken links, and is visually appealing. Link to it from your social media!
- Find ways to be interviewed, whether that’s a podcast or a blog or even the news. You need to do your research, but there are lots of options. Sometimes they will host a giveaway of your book. That’s a great way for people to hear about you! If your book is about a more niche topic, you can reach out when there is a special day on the calendar – for example, with a book about Multiple Sclerosis, you can contact organizations ahead of May 30th, World MS Day.
- Attend book fairs. You don’t usually sell that many copies, but it is a great way to network. You can also try to join events schools are hosting, either by selling your book(s) at their bigger book fairs or offering workshops/author visits.
- Try your best to make connections with important players in the writing community. An editor or agent might not take you on, but may still share your info with others who could!
Hopefully these tips will give you some direction in your marketing journey. Don’t give up, even if it seems challenging! You never know when you might meet the perfect person for your book to take off. Best of luck!
